A morning at Nalsarovar

Monday 25th December, Gir - Ahemdabad - Nalsarovar - Ahemdabad - Pune

Our train, late by an hour, reached Ahemdabad at around 6:15am. Jayanth too was with us and we all had a late afternoon flight back home from Ahemdabad. So we decided to spend the morning at Nalsarovar lake, near Ahemdabad.

We reached Nalsarovar by 7:45am or so and were surprised to see the place was full of tourists! There was no way to do any birdwathing along the banks and we took a boat ride. Here we met Qasim Mohammad, a sweet chap in his forties, who had immense bird knowledge and had been observing bird behavior at Nalsarovar right from chidlhood.

Glossy Ibis

The lake was full of Martins and Wire Tailed Swallows flying at low heights above the water. As we went inside, we saw a lot of Glossy Ibis, Black Tailed Godwits, Black Winged Stilts. A Marsh Harrier hid in the tall grass looking for a prey. As we cut through the grass and went further, a Purple Swamphen took off and soon we discovered the place was full of Purple Swamphens.

Black Tailed Godwit in flight

At some distance Qasim spotted a Pheasant Tailed Jacana, then 5-6 Greylag Geese landing nearby. Then there was a lone Comb Duck swimming which took off.

Comb Duck (aka Nakta) taking off

We could see many flocks of birds in the sky which included Glossy Ibis, Asian OpenBill Storks, Garganey ducks, Greylag Geese and Common Cranes.

Grey Lag Goose taking off, Garganey Ducks in the background

The water level was shallow throughout and in summers it goes a couple of feet low, making it a perfect habitat for Pelicans and Flamingos. Qasim told us that even Wild Ass migrated to Nalsarovar during summer.

Purple Heron in flight

After spending around 3 hours in the boat, we got back to rush to Ahemdabad to catch our flights. We reached Pune and home early evening and were already talking about the next trip to more places in Gujrat!

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nature-pics/tags/nalsarovar/

BirdList:
Asian Open Bill stork,
Painted Stork,
Purple Swamphen,
Large Egret,
Intermediate Egret,
Little Egret,
Pheasant-tailed Jacana,
Wire Tailed Swallow,
Martins (unidentified),
Brahminy Ducks,
Garganey Ducks,
Comb Duck,
Black Ibis,
Glossy Ibis,
Wood Sandpiper,
Black-tailed Godwit,
Common Snipe,
Black-winged stilt,
Purple Heron,
Grey Heron,
Pond Heron,
Marsh Harrier,
Lesser-spotted eagle,
Common Crane,
Sarus Crane (in nearby field on our way back)
Yellow wagtail,
Grey Wagtail,
White-tailed lapwing,
Red-wattled lapwing,
Greylag goose

Boat ride:
No fixed timings. There was a base cost for the first one hour and the remaining hours are to be decided mutually with the boatmen.

Distances:
Ahemdabad to Nalsarovar - 80kms

Gir: Bow to The King!

Saturday 23rd December, Zainabad - Gir

We checked out from Desert Coursers at 6:30am, travelled by road to Sasan (Gir) and reached by 1:30pm at Gir Birding Lodge, just in time for Lunch. There we happened to meet Jayanth Sharma, from Bangalore. I was in touch with him online and it was a pleasant surprise to bump into him in the wild.

We took our first safari the same afternoon. The guide had average knowledge of birds and gave us mostly info about the park, history, census figures, trees, etc. Our driver was pretty good at spotting birds and also stopping silently when needed. For the first 45 minutes we hadn't seen anything but a couple of White Eared Bulbuls and an Asian Paradise Flycatcher female. Soon we crossed a stream where we saw 3-4 Indian Treepies in flight, a Common Kingfisher, many Rose Ringed Parakeets and a Green Bee-Eater. Some distance ahead, we spotted our first two Asiatic Lionesses with a six month old male Asiatic Lion Cub. Another jeep with some forest officers was already present there. We clicked some snaps and moved on. It was great to see the Lioness walking in front of us and later seated watching us in the wild, but the guide seemed much more elated and told us "Aapka to kaam ho gaya" (Now your job is done), as if there was nothing else in the forest to be seen now.

Asiatic Lioness coming closer

We crossed another stream and found some Sambar females bathing. Some distance ahead, near a check post, was a White Browed Fantail and a female Koel on the same tree. After that we passed through the Kamleshwar lake, took a short stop and headed back. The lake is supposed to be full of Crocodiles, we could see one swimming and there were stories of how they killed Spotted Deer, Sambar, Nilgai and even a camel once when they came to drink water. While crossing the dam, we saw 6-7 Painted Sandgrouse on the roadside in front of us. As soon as our vehicle was heard, they hid (in vain) on one side. And just when we tried to click, they all flew further.

Sunday 24th December, Gir

The next day morning safari started at 6:30am, it wasn't even sunrise and again the first 45 minutes were without any activity. We were on route 2 and the guide said there is a chance of spotting the Lion there. After stopping on the way for a Changeable Hawk Eagle, we reached a place where an Asiatic Lion was already spotted. He was resting in the inner side and couldn't be seen from the jeeps. There were around 5-6 safari vehicles by then and we were shocked to see all guides and drivers telling the tourists to get down for a closer look at the animal. All tourists started getting close and the lion got up and went back. Since he wasn't approachable now, everyone got back into their vehicles and waited at another spot where we could hear another lion roar. After all the hoopla, we decided to leave the spot and go ahead on our route.

Luckily, the Lions too decided to do that. The guide told us that there were two elder lions who had left their territory and came here encroaching the territory of other two younger lions. And the elder two were roaring and challenging the younger pair. But at that moment, the younger pair had got split and one of them came out of the forest on the track in front of our jeep. The guides immediately started looking out for the other two, as they would surely come to attack this lone one. And so they did. Thankfully there was only one safari jeep there, other than ours. The other jeep was in front of us and in front of it were the lions. By now the younger lone lion and one of the two elders were facing each other and roaring angrily. They pounced on each other and started fighting so ferociously we thought they were going to kill each other. I was numb, awestruck and couldn't believe it was all happening feets away from us. It was all very dusty as the Lions were fighting on dusty road track. Just then the guide in the front jeep started shouting at them, the driver got down briefly, picked up a big stone and threw it at the Lions to make them stop fighting. As soon as they left each others hold, the jeep driver drove almost in between them so as to separate them. The one of the left joined his brother and started walking behind our two jeeps, while the one on the right was walking ahead. We followed it and were being followed by other two for almost 2 kms. The ones behind us tried to overtake our jeeps by going parallel from the left side in the forest, but the drivers drove faster and made the lion in the front run a bit.
After some time, the two stopped following and went into the forest and the one in the front, tired, went a bit off track to rest. The guide told us had we not separated them, one of them would surely kill the other. And a Lion death was ofcourse a big loss to the sanctuary. Later some more tourist safaris came, again got on ground and started photographing the poor, tired animal. We took some time to digest it all and got back to Gir Birding Lodges after having one of our best wildlife experiences.

The evening safari was our last at Gir and we were not worried about lion sightings, having had our share in the morning and the day before. Among birds we saw an Asian Paradise Flycatcher male, very near to our jeep, an unidentified Eagle and a Long Billed Vulture.

We checked out of Gir Birding Lodge late evening, went by road to Junagadh, from where we were to board a train to Ahemdabad.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nature-pics/tags/gir/

Birdlist:
White Browed Fantail
Koel
Indian Treepie
Asian Paradise Flycatcher (male & female)
Common Kingfisher
White Eared Bulbul
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Yellow Wagtail
Oriental Honey Buzzard
Painted Sandgrouse
Changeable Hawk Eagle
Greater Coucal
Shikra (male)
Magpie Robin
Common Kestrel
Long Billed Vulture

Animals & Reptiles sighted:

2 Asiatic Lionesses, a 6 month old Lion cub, 3 Asiatic Lions, Spotted Deer, Sambar, Mongoose, Crocodile

Travel Information:-
Stay:
Gir Birding Lodge at Sasan, Clean well-equipped rooms/cottages, very good food, good service. Located next to mango farms on one side and the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary on the other, the surrounding garden has bird baths setup and boxes for birds to stay. Birds commonly seen here from the balcony include Parakeets, Bulbuls, Indian Treepie, Grey Tit.

Safaris:
Morning safari from 6:30 to 10:30
Evening safari from 3:30pm to 6:30pm
There are in all 7 routes which the safari vehicles can take. The forest dept officers allot a route and a guide to each safari vehicle.

Distances:
Kutch/Zainabad to Gir: 350kms (7 hours)
Gir to Junagadh: 56kms (1 hour)
Train from Junagadh to Ahemdabad: Departs at 9:05pm and reaches at 4:50am

The Little Rann of Kutch

This winter, we (Shash and I) were determined to visit Bharatpur, but got disappointed after hearing it was hit by a drought and the lake was dry with hardly any birds. So we decided to go to Gujarat. We had 5 days in hand and planned the route:

Pune - Ahemdabad - Zainabad (Little rann of kutch) - Sasan (Gir) - Ahemdabad - Nalsarovar - Ahemdabad - Pune

Thursday 21st December, Pune - Ahemdabad - Zainabad

We took an early morning flight to Ahemdabad, reached by 9:30am and drove to a village called Zainabad, in Little Rann of Kutch. We reached Desert Coursers by noon.

Our first safari, starting early evening at 3:30pm, gave us a feel of the rann, surrounding habitat and some villages around. On the way, we saw a lot of Collared Doves and Laughing Doves on the wires. Then a Black Shouldered Kite, which is very common there. Inside the sanctuary, our first sighting was of a herd of Asiatic Wild Ass in a field off the road. We approached them in the safari vehicle and later on foot. They didn't shy off though a male Wild Ass was on alert and watching us on and off.

Asiatic Wild Ass (male), more males and females in the background

Just then we saw a big flock of Common Cranes in flight at a distance, followed by a bigger flock of Rosy Pelicans. We drove in their direction and discovered a water body where they had landed. It wasn't very approachable and we left the birds undisturbed.

A pair of Common Cranes taking off

On our way inside the rann, we saw an Indian Roller, couple of Pallid Harriers. Then came some common cranes in a field. Next to them was a male Bluebull standing strong. Another lovely sight was flocks of Larks (unidentified) flying from one field to another. They were so well camouflaged on the dry ground, that we were often taken by surprise when a flock took off in front of us, to go and disappear in the next field. After sunset at around 6:30pm, we drove back and reached Zainabad by 7:30pm.

The spotted owlet is one of my most loved birds, and the trees around in Desert Coursers had many. The night was sleepless, full of their calls.

Friday 22nd December, Little Rann of Kutch

The next day early morning we were supposed to visit the creek side of the rann. We started by 7:30am and on the way saw some Grey Partridges in the field. While driving inside the rann, we could see a thick long white line far away. They were all Rosy Pelicans on a water body. We approached them eagerly, after a while on foot. As we went closer, some of them got alarmed. There were some Common Cranes on the bank which took off. We waited behind a bush to give the Pelicans some time. After a few minutes, they too took off and the sight was unforgettable. We got a pretty close look at them while in water and in flight, though felt sorry for disturbing them. After some more Wild Ass sightings on the way, we reached the creek. It had numerous Lesser Flamingos and Greater Flamingos, all busy fishing their breakfast.

Lesser Flamingos and Greater Flamingos busy fishing

There were many male and female Shovelers and more unidentified ducks, Little Egrets and some Eurasian Spoonbills too in the water. We also saw a couple of Reef Egrets there. On the way back, we saw a couple of Painted Sandgrouse and some distance later the Rosy Pelican flock settled on ground. Some of them looked as if sleeping, while some were on guard.

Water body full of Rosy Pelicans

The rann is an amazing place, throughout as dry as it can get, and once in a while you find these magical water bodies full of birds. All satisfied, we headed back by noon to Desert Coursers.

We started our last safari in hope of seeing the bustard. Though we got late due to some permit issue, the safari driver made sure we reached the inner areas of rann before sunset. Right in the beginning on our way, we saw a cute Spotted Owlet on a roadside tree. Then a Common Kestrel on a wire across the road. In the roadside fields, we were looking out for the Indian Courser but couldn't sight one. Later, we came across a big Short Eared Owl which saw us and flew. Probably we woke it up from sleep.

Painted Stork in flight

Finally we reached the "houbara bait" where the houbara or mcqueen's bustards were sighted before. It was already past sunset and getting dark. While searching for the bustards, we saw two Pallid Harriers on ground. After some more searching, we decided we weren't as lucky and decided to head back. And guess what, just after some time there stood a Houbara or MacQueen's Bustard right in front of our vehicle, seen in the headlights. No photos as it was dark, but I could clearly see its features through the binoculars. It stayed for a minute and then flew. Content now, we got back on track. Saw a couple of Hares running madly around. Then a couple of Indian Nightjars. Guess the whole delay in safari helped us spot these nocturnal wonders. We got back a bit late by 8:30pm, right in time for dinner.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nature-pics/tags/kutch/

Birdlist:
White Bellied Drongo
Black Drongo
Collared Dove
Green Bee Eater
White Eared Bulbul
Indian Robin
Magpie Robin
Black Shouldered Kite
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Common Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Black Tailed Godwit
Black Winged Stilt
Cattle Egret
Reef Egret
Brahminy Starling
Rosy Starling
Bank Myna
Asian Open Bill Stork
Painted Stork
Glossy Ibis
Shoveler (male & female)
Southern Grey Shrike
Common Crane
Rosy Pelican
Lesser Flamingos
Greater flamingos
Pallid Harrier
Indian Roller
Larks (unidentified)
Painted Sandgrouse
Grey Partridge
White Throated Kingfisher
Greater Coucal
Shikra (female)
Red Wattled Lapwing
Pond Heron
Grey heron
Laughing Dove
Black Redstart
Hoopoe
Tern (unidentified)
Eurasian Spoonbill
Peacock & Peahen
MacQueen's Bustard (aka Houbara Bustard)
Indian Nightjar
Spotted owlet
Common Kestrel
Short Eared Owl
Wire Tailed Swallow
Desert Wheatear

Animals sighted:
Asiatic Wild Ass
Bluebull
Hare
Mongoose

Travel Information:-
Stay:
Desert Coursers at Zainabad, ethnic styled huts and surrounding area, good food, average service.

Safaris:
Morning safari from 7:30 to 11:30, the forest dept office where you have to collect the permit from opens at 8:00am. Evening safari from 3:30pm to 7:30pm, gets pitch dark in the rann after that. Entry points into the rann are some distance away from Zainabad, takes 30 to 45 minutes easily to enter.

Distances:
Ahemdabad to Zainabad: 115kms